Inside 2024's Most Notable Career Fumbles

Forbes

A plummeting stock price, criminal charges or simply strategic blunders can cause an otherwise exemplary career to tumble. Our annual list of career crashes illustrates how even the mightiest can fall.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mariagraciasantillanalinares/2024/12/31/biggest-career-crashes-of-2024/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, biggest career crashes of 2024.

00:06A plummeting stock price, criminal charges,

00:09or simply strategic blunders

00:10can cause an otherwise exemplary career to tumble.

00:14Our annual list of career crashes

00:16illustrates how even the mightiest can fall.

00:19Here are some highlights

00:20from our career crash list of 2024.

00:24When Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun

00:26testified in front of lawmakers in June

00:29over safety problems

00:30with the airplane maker's fixture 737 MAX,

00:33he started off by apologizing

00:35to the families of those killed in Boeing airplane crashes

00:38before detailing the safety failures

00:40in its manufacturing process

00:41and admitting company whistleblowers

00:43were retaliated against.

00:46The 68-year-old CEO had by then

00:48already announced he'd be stepping down

00:50by the end of the year,

00:51but by July, a new CEO, Kelly Ortberg,

00:54was already in charge.

00:56Calhoun, who started his career at Boeing

00:59as a director and rose to be non-executive chairman,

01:01was brought in as CEO in 2020

01:03to turn things around at Boeing

01:05following two deadly crashes that killed 346 people.

01:09But the company has continued to struggle

01:11with safety and manufacturing issues.

01:13In January 2024, a Boeing 737 MAX 9 plane door

01:18blew open mid-flight,

01:20sparking Senate hearings, grounded flights,

01:22and a Federal Aviation Administration audit

01:25that found that Boeing failed to comply

01:27with quality control requirements.

01:29A company whistleblower was found dead in March.

01:32By July, the company pled guilty

01:34to one charge of defrauding the American government

01:36over safety issues in the 737 MAX,

01:39though the deal was rejected by a Texas federal judge.

01:42Boeing's woes have continued.

01:44Last weekend, one of its 737-800 passenger jets,

01:48operated by South Korea's Jeju Air,

01:50crashed as it was attempting to land.

01:54Hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, aka P. Diddy's, career,

01:58crashed following a slew of sexual abuse

02:00and sex trafficking claims.

02:02Combs was first arrested in September

02:04after he was federally charged with sex trafficking,

02:07racketeering conspiracy,

02:08and transportation to engage in prostitution

02:11in New York City.

02:12He pleaded not guilty

02:13and appealed the decision multiple times.

02:16But Combs spent this Christmas in a federal jail in Brooklyn,

02:19where he will remain until his May trial date.

02:22Just last year, the three-time Grammy winner

02:25won MTV's Global Icon Award.

02:27At his peak, Combs' professional portfolio

02:30included the record label, Bad Boy Records,

02:32and several lifestyle businesses,

02:34including Fashion and Fragrance Lines,

02:36a Ciroc-Vodka partnership, and a TV network.

02:40Forbes estimated him to be worth $740 million in 2019.

02:44As of June, after paying for legal fees

02:46and the reputation hit to his brands,

02:49Forbes estimates his worth at $400 million.

02:53Florida Representative Matt Gaetz

02:55was poised to be the top law enforcement officer

02:57in the country when President-elect Donald Trump

03:00nominated him for U.S. Attorney General,

03:02and he resigned from Congress.

03:04It was a big step up for Gaetz,

03:05who was 42 years old, if short-lived.

03:08His nomination was overshadowed

03:10by an ongoing House ethics investigation

03:12over claims he had sex with a minor and illegal drug use.

03:16A week later, he withdrew from the nomination.

03:19The scandal didn't stop there.

03:21The Ethics Committee released its report

03:23on Gaetz on December 23rd.

03:25In it, they found he paid underage girls for sex

03:27and bought illegal drugs.

03:29Gaetz has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

03:33Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider

03:35came under heavy criticism after a March docuseries

03:38by Investigation Discovery,

03:40Quiet On Set, The Dark Side of Kids TV,

03:43revealed a number of allegations

03:44over a toxic workplace culture.

03:47The show interviewed former child stars and crew members

03:50who alleged the producer behind hit shows

03:52like Zoey 101 and iCarly ran a toxic workplace

03:56and was inappropriate with young actors.

03:58Schneider apologized for his behavior,

04:00but has since sued Warner Brothers

04:02and the producers of the film for defamation,

04:04stating that the documentary's analysis of the workplace

04:07was a quote, hit job, and had falsely stated or implied

04:10that he quote, sexually abused the children

04:12who worked on his television shows.

04:14Schneider's latest piece of work,

04:16a movie based on the Nickelodeon TV series

04:18he created, Henry Danger,

04:20is set to come out on January 17th.

04:24For full coverage and to see the whole list,

04:26check out Maria Garcia Santillana Linares' piece

04:29on Forbes.com.

04:31This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:34Thanks for tuning in.

04:42You

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